MentorU, hosted by Nutritional Sciences Graduate Student Organization (GSO), facilitates grad studentto grad student mentor relationships and builds community in our department, teaching our graduate students how to use mentoring to grow professionally outside of our department.
Vision
Upon graduation, graduate students in the Nutritional Sciences department will have the skills to utilize professional mentoring practices to elevate their careers.
Mission
To cultivate skills related to seeking mentorship and conducting mentor relationships between Nutritional Sciences graduate students, as well as to prepare students to leverage mentoring in order to enhance their professional development outside of the Nutritional Sciences department and throughout their careers.
- Be inclusive to ensure all students have access to a meaningful peer mentorship.
- Establish and maintain a quality Nutritional Sciences GSO peer mentor program.
- Develop and adapt roadmap program as the needs of the department change.
- Strive to make mentorship among graduate students a common practice in the Nutritional Sciences department.
- Promote student-driven initiative to seek professional mentors.
- Strengthen community within the Nutritional Sciences department.
Goals
- Facilitate peer mentorship for new graduate students in an effort to help with their transition into graduate school.
- Provide opportunities for graduate students that are 2+ years into their program to serve as mentors.
- Educate graduate students on how to conduct effective mentoring meetings and relationships.
- Teach graduate students etiquette in maintaining professional mentoring relationships.
- Show graduate students the potential benefits of participating in mentor/mentee relationships.
- Foster a culture of collaboration and mentorship in the Nutritional Sciences department.
- Prepare graduate students with skills to help them transition into their first career mentor/mentee relationship.
Competencies
By the end of the year, Nutritional Sciences graduate students will:
- Be able to confidently seek and conduct mentorship relationships.
- Be able to utilize resources for exploring career options, including on-campus resources.
- Be able to develop goals related to professional growth, including identifying personal strengths and growth points and potential resources for these growth points.
- Be able to demonstrate good rapport with mentee/mentor via completion of the roadmap.
Meetings
- Students will meet in mentor/mentee pairs at least 4 times (1 time per month of a semester).
- Meetings can be in-person, virtual, phone, or email.
- Meetings can be more frequent if the peer mentoring group deems appropriate.
- Mentees will prepare appropriately for each meeting based on the NUTR GSO Peer Mentor Program Roadmap.